UHM Ethnomusicology students continue to make meaningful contributions to scholarship and creative work, demonstrating the program’s dynamic blend of research and practice.
PhD student José R. “Pow” Taton has published “Memories of Ritual, Acts of Remembering: Ati Voices as Collective ‘Witnessing’” in the anthology Indigeneity in the Philippines: Studies on Knowledge, Identity, and Rights (University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2026). Currently on leave from his faculty role at the University of the Philippines Visayas, his work centers Indigenous voices and collective memory.
This spirit of collaboration extends into performance and creation through the University of Hawaiʻi’s sponsorship of the Uni Ugat Music Camp. Bringing together six master musicians from Indigenous communities of the Philippines and six industry veterans from the continental United States, the camp transforms Oʻahu into a creative laboratory. UHM students Kevin Calamayan, Paul Cosme and Willbur Shansey are participating as UH scholars, working alongside these artists to develop new compositions. Selected works from the residency will be presented at Capitol Modern on May 30, 2026 in a free public concert, offering audiences an opportunity to experience music born from cross-cultural collaboration. More information is available at houseofgongs.com.